Chronicles of Nika

Yay! After 2 months of resigning, I finally submitted everything 2 hours ago and finished my clearance. Now I have to wait for 3-4 months (the girl at the HCD office said maybe even more) for my backpay to arrive. Well its still money in the future so I’m happy to wait.

Tried to blog using my sister’s Nokia N70 but it was hard saving a post. I ended up deleting the post I had typed in after selecting a category as well as after I added in tags. I was using Opera Mini as my browser. Oh well, I still prefer using my computer. Easier to blog with a keyboard on hand.

I am at the school library doing nothing useful because my second class, RELSFOR was dissolved. We weren’t informed by our professor who didn’t bother showing up the last two meetings. When I came to our room today, only one of my classmates was there. I figured something was up and the class might have been dissolved so I went to our academic assistant to get it verified and she said that yes it was dissolved. Bummer.

So I went ahead and got my EAF reprinted and called my mom to tell her what had happened. I hope they still offer RELSFOR next term. I want that compared to TRED. -sigh-

Okay so while surfing the internet on my free time (which is 3 hours to be exact because my next class starts at 1pm) I found this Upstart Blogger’s 30 Day Blogging Course. The catch is I would need to sign-up for hosting with AN Hosting. Since I really am interested to learn more about the course (I am a very curious person by nature) I might try and sign-up when I get some spare cash. I need to earn more money online since I don’t have a job any more when I went back to school. The schedule at the contact center I worked for doesn’t work well with my class schedule plus my school is an hour and a half commute from my hometown. Plus I can use the extra money for school fees and my baking experiments. Baking ingredients are so expensive here, butter alone kills my budget. -sigh-

I wonder who else has tried the Upstart Blogger’s 30 Day Blogging Course. It would be interesting to find out if these people were successful in implementing the steps lined out in the course. You can check out his site upstartblogger.com to find more information about earning online. The blog is actually a good read and I don’t find it boring like I do most blogs that deal about making money online.

I need a final product that I will be suing for sales presentation for my first individual speech for my ENGLTRI class and since I like to bake, I decided to present a baked product. I’m still trying to figure out which I’ll do (my chocolate cake, cinnamon rolls or a cupcake). I’m low on the premium cocoa that I use regularly for my chocolate cake (which reminds me I need to visit Baker’s Depot in Waltermart Makati which my sister saw when they went there). So I am trying to see if I can bake a decent cupcake that doesn’t need any powdered cocoa or premium chocolates.

I’ll try to make a simple vanilla buttercream cupcake based from the Magnolia bakery recipe which I found on some magazines and the internet. I do hope I get it right so I can do that instead of the cake or the cinnamon rolls. I also have to find a decent packaging to use which I can do over the weekend. I just need to determine tonight what actual product I’ll be using for the presentation so I can finalize my speech outline.

Ok, I think I was blessed this morning. When I got to the bus stop all the buses that were going by were all full. People were standing up inside the buses because it was a Monday. Its the first day of the workweek so many people from Batangas rush back to Manila to arrive for their work. Unfortunately, my classes fell on Monday/Wednesday so I have to endure the “mad rush” morning every Monday. I was thinking that I want to get to school early (these days I set an hour buffer just to be sure I wouldn’t be late or absent for class) so I took the third LRT/Buendia bus that drove by. It was almost packed but I said to myself, I can endure standing as long as I get to school early. Although I was praying in my head to maybe get a seat when the bus gets to Turbina where lots of passengers sometimes get off the bus.

When I stepped in the bus, the conductor instructed all passengers coming in to squeeze into the middle isle because some people were going to get off in Sto. Tomas and Turbina. When I got to the space where I was supposed to stand, the man seated got up and said this was his stop. So I ended up getting a seat while a lot of people were standing up. I’m just very thankful that God gave me a seat this morning.

Okay, first class (PRODMAN) is done. My professor discussed a few more details about 1929, Hoover, the Great Depression, Israel, Lebanon, Gaza, UK, and a few other things in between. I need to read about the following:

1. Six (6) day war between Israel and Egypt.
2. What really happened during the Great depression.
3. The amount of OFW remittances the country received based from last week’s newspaper.
4. What happened to Enron.
5. Lussitania (not even sure if that’s the correct spelling)
6. Find more readings that discuss the financial meltdown and the global crisis.

So I have quite lots to read and research for. That’s why I’m in the library blogging. Lol. >.< Which reminds me my RELSFOR professor didn’t show up again today that’s why I am in the library early. My next class is at 1pm so I have a bit of time to wait for my Speech class. -sigh-

Ok. I have been waiting for the dsl connection to be reactivated for the past week. Its now Sunday and the dsl is still dead. Its not funny anymore. Seriously. If they didn’t have any plans of reconnecting it this week, their customer representatives over at their 171 business hotline should be trained to simply tell their customers the truth as to when their connections will be properly connected again, instead of telling us each and every time we call to check for connection this afternoon or tomorrow. I have been doing that for over a week and I’ve been getting the same lame replies from each agent they have on the phone.

I worked in a contact center and I tell my customers the truth (given its positively scripted to soften the blow) even if that is not what they want to hear. I appreciate honesty more than empty promises. If they will take 7 days, 14 days, 21 days or any time frame, at least tell that and not give this afternoon and tomorrow if that is not the case. >.< I don’t simply subscribe to their services just for fun or to ease my boredom at home. I use the internet for my schoolwork and for my freelancing tasks. -sigh-

I am sick of calling their customer service because they give me the same crap every time I call. I just want them to get the connection up and running.

Oh well, I just saw in the Manila Times that Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton’s fight might not push through again. They’re still fighting over the split with Manny wanting a larger split. Oh well, I think the saying that goes like “Once you get what you desire, you don’t end up satisfied, instead you start reaching for an even bigger desire…” rings true for this case. The fight with Hatton might not push through but according to the news and other blogs it seems Manny’s camp is talking with Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a possible fight.

Maybe their just building anticipation for the viewers, maybe its a psychological tactic to get more people to watch the fight or maybe not. Lol.

Well I was reading the newspaper yesterday or was it the other day and I saw that the boxing fight between Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton will be pushing through at the 50-50 profit split. It was said that initially Manny Pacquiao wanted to pull out because he wanted a 60-40 split, but he decided to push through with the 50-50 split when it was explained to him that it would include the UK pay-per-view profits. Oh well, it doesn’t really matter much to me. I just like sitting and watching with my family when a Pacquiao fight is on each year.

Its quite fun to watch although its a little bit disturbing especially when some messages circulated around the internet and text messages after Manny’s last fight. Someone mentioned that every time Pacquiao has a fight and wins it, someone well-known in our country dies. It might simply be a coincidence but its eerie nonetheless. Made me remember the movie my sister and I watched earlier on HBO. I think the title is “Stay Alive” because it was the game the characters in the movie were playing. It was really eerie because the gamers were dying in reality the same way they died on the game. Oh well, good thing I watched it in daytime.

By the way, talking about Pacquiao made me remember General Santos and the canned tuna and wildfang we were given last Christmas. I loved them although its quite disappointing that they are not sold in the country because they are exclusively for export in the UK as well as Denmark (or was it Norway). The tuna one was preserved in sunflower oil, the wildfang one I forgot. Seriously, they’re delicious. I’d really buy them if they were available on the local market.

Oh well, I called in again this morning and the customer service representative told me that the service order was still in the queue and it was still under completion. I told her it was “under completion” for a week already. >.< I mean I just want to know when they'll get it connected again instead of calling them everyday because they keep telling me it will be connected this afternoon or tomorrow. Its really getting to my nerves now. -sigh-

I'm trying to get more updates and maintenance done on my web profiles so I'm trying to find old forgotten accounts and check for salvageable (Is this a real word?) pictures and stuff. I’m planning to go to Robinson’s Lipa today to check if they have some pants in the department store that would fit me well. I need some jeans so I would have something decent for school.

I was able to do some blog maintenance yesterday for this domain as well as my subdomain (photography.nikacatbagan.com). I was able to upgrade them to the current versions of WP and I was able to clean them up a little. I decided to start-over with my photoblog because it was infested with more than 3000 spam comments and I didn’t want to manually delete them all. So a fresh install and database made life easier for me.

I don’t have any photos posted yet on my photography blog but I would be taking some photos soon of random things so I would be more inclined to go out and explore, rather than staying cooped up inside my room. My camera is a simple point and shoot, its a Canon IXUS and its 2 years old (or going 3 I suppose) but it does the work done. I of course want a dslr but I can wait until I have enough money to get one for myself. School expenses are the priority at the moment.

I’ve been wanting to get a customized wordpress theme for my blogs (especially for this one) but I still don’t have the spare cash so I am putting that on hold. I am very much interested in designs made by Gisele Jaquenod because really love the customized themes that she has done for other people. Try to check out her designs and I know you’ll love it too. Its uber cute, chic and very whimsical. I love themes that fall into those categories so I love her work. I hope I can save enough to get a blog makeover before my birthday rolls by. I have so many things that need to be done before my birthday comes. I have to keep a list to remember.